PBJ’s BizGrowth Summit emphasizes the positive

On July 26 we’ll hold our second annual BizGrowth Summit at the Oregon Convention Center. We launched this event last year with an eye toward providing a bit of a different perspective on the regional economy.

This conference was started because everyone we’ve talked to — our advertisers, subscribers, the companies we cover in the paper, the executives who come to our events, the executives who read us online — all have one thing in common: they are sick and tired of hearing about the recession from economists and they all want to focus on growing their business.

It’s not hard to understand. It seems we are assaulted on a daily basis with reports of what’s going on at the Fed, in Europe and in the Middle East that forebodes certain doom to our economy and everyone in it.

And it is seemingly always reported with fear as its nexus. Much of this runs contrary to what we’re seeing on a daily basis in our news coverage and programs at the Business Journal.

What we’ve been seeing are some of the most innovative thinking, products and strategies to grow businesses that we’ve seen in a very long time. What we do at the Business Journal is cover growth, and there has been plenty to write about.

We recently published our Fastest-Growing Private 100 Companies list. Not only did we have the highest number of submissions to make the list this year than we’ve ever had, but the minimum rate of growth for the two-year period to make the list was nearly 36 percent. Last year it was 5 percent. Sometimes reality is what you make it.

The BizGrowth Summit is designed to showcase and learn from some of the exceptional CEOs and organizations that have chosen to focus on managing the extraordinary growth of their companies rather than chew their nails over the rants and prognostications of economists.

We’ll have a full day of interviews with CEOs of growing companies, presentations by the Ritz Carlton on customer service and development, an awards luncheon where we will celebrate our Small Business of the Year Award winners, a keynote from Gov. John Kitzhaber, an expo room filled with companies presenting new concepts and ideas on improving your business operations, and a great reception capping it off at day’s end.

Kevin Carroll, author of The Rules of the Red Rubber Ball, will be doing what is always an inspiring and entertaining afternoon presentation. In addition, 15 companies will receive our Small Business of the Year Awards, out of almost 200 nominations and submissions.

We intend for business executives to leave the BizGrowth Summit inspired and armed with a full quiver of ideas, strategies and connections to pursue. There is momentum in this marketplace. There is an current of growth that many companies are already riding.

We’re going to provide you with the oar. You only need put it in the water and dig.